Float actuated valves



Dec. 5, 1961 E. JORGENSEN 3,011,719

FLOAT ACTUATED VALVES Filed May a, 1959 El-MEMM/C United States Patent Ofiflce 3,011,719 Patented Dec. 5, 1961 3,011,719 FLOAT ACTUATED VALVES Emanuel Jorgensen, Four Acres, Station Road, Albrighton, Wolverhampton, England Filed May 6, 1959, Ser. No. 811,318 3 Claims. (Cl. 236-59) The object of this invention is to provide in a convenient and eflicient form a float actuated valve, more particularly but not exclusively for use with steam traps.

A valve according to the invention comprises the combination of a hollow body part, a member having a convex surface disposed within the body part, a passage extending through said member and terminating at one end in said convex surface, a rocker carrying a closure member adapted to seat within said one end of the passage, a float connected to the rocker, and means constraining the rocker for angular movement whereby during movement of the float in a direction to move the closure member from the seating the rocker rolls upon said convex surface.

In the accompanying drawings, FIGURE 1 is a sectional side view of an example of the invention as applied to a steam trap, FIGURE 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, and FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side view illustrating, to a larger scale than FIGURES 1 and 2, the closure member in a partially open position.

Referring to the drawings, there is provided a hollow body part 3 which is formed in two parts and defines a valve chamber. At the lower end of the body part is an outlet 4 whilst disposed vertically above the outlet is an inlet 5. Engaged within a screw-threaded entrance to the outlet 4 is the screw-threaded stem of a substantially mushroom-shaped member 6 having its head extending into the chamber of the body part. The upper surface of the head is of convex, and preferably of spherical form, whilst extending vertically through the member is a passage 7 terminated at its upper end at the centre of the convex surface.

The stem of the member 6 extends through a hole formed in the one limb of an L-shaped bracket 8 which is retained in position against the bottom of the chamber by means of the head of the member, whilst to the other limb of this bracket is secured a horizontally extending U-shaped stirrup 9. Between the limbs of the stirrup is a rocker 10 to one end of which is attached a float 11.

Extending vertically through the rocker is a bore in the upper end of which is an adjustable screw-threaded plug 12, and within the lower end of the bore, and partially extending therefrom, is a spherical ball 13 which serves as a closure member adapted to seat against a seating surrounding the upper end of the passage 7. The lower end of the bore in the rocker 10 is constructed to retain the ball 13 within it, and the screw plug 12 is adjusted so as to hold the ball in a position in which it projects in part below the lower surface of the rocker whilst permitting it to rotate within the bore.

Extending between the limbs of the stirrup 9, are a pair of transverse pins 14, 15. The pin 14 extends through a hole in the rocker 10 and at its ends is located within slots formed in the limbs of the stirrup, whilst the pin 15 is fixed relative to the stirrup and is adapted to serve as an abutment for a heel piece 10 formed at the end of the rocker remote from the float.

In the closed position of the valve the rocker 10 extends horizontally, and the ball is held against the seating by gravity, and by the weight of the float tending to move the rocker angularly about the ball, but resisted by the heel piece 10 engaging the transverse pin 15, this pin being located considerably nearer to the ball 13 than the float so that the weight of the float acts through a mechanical advantage to close the valve. Also in this position the lower surface of the rocker is removed from the convex surface of the member 6 by a few thousandths of an inch.

When condensate begins to fill the chamber in the body part, the float starts to rise and thereby impart angular movement to the rocker. The first effect of this movement will be for the rocker to turn upon the ball, until the underside of the rocker makes contact with the convex surface of the member. During this movement the heel piece 10 is moving away from the transverse pin 15 in the stirrup. As the float continues to rise the rocker will roll upon the convex surface as constrained by the transverse pin 14 in its slots. When the rocker first makes contact with a spherical surface it will do so at a position close to the ball 13 and, since this part of the convex surface is at this instant acting as a fulcrum, the float acts through a leverage resulting in a considerable mechanical advantage to effect the initial lifting of the ball from the seating. However, as the rocker rolls upon the convex surface, the fulcrum point becomes gradually further from the ball thereby reducing the leverage ratio through which the float acts, and at the same time increasing the amount of movement of the ball for a given movement of the float.

Connected between the screw-threaded plug 12 or between some other convenient point on the rocker and the body part 3 is a bi-metallic strip 16, that is to say, a metallic strip having its opposite sides formed respectively by two metals having different coefficients of expansion. This strip is arranged to deflect when heated in a direction to permit the valve to close under gravitational forces, and assumes the bowed condition shown in FIGURE 1. Upon becoming cool the bimetallic strip tends to straighten and, as its upper end is fixed, its lower end serves by its action on the rocker to move the latter angularly towards the fully open position of the valve. Conveniently, the bi-metallic strip incorporates a series of loops or corrugations which enable the length of the strip accommodated within the available space to be such that the strip has suflicient power and movement to open the valve to its full extent in response to cooling of the strip.

Although the invention has been described in its appli cation to a steam trap, it will be appreciated that it could be applied in essentially the same way to other float actuated valves. However, the invention has particular application to steam traps, since in the latter initial lifting of the closure member from its seating normally requires to be effected against the action of steam pressure tending to hold it against the seating. By the present invention this initial lifting of the closure member is effected through a considerable mechanical advantage whilst still maintaining a compact construction since the float can be disposed comparatively close to the valve closure member. Moreover, the thermostatic action of the bi-metallic strip will admit of air and cool condensate being discharged quickly from the chamber as soon as the steam is turned on, thereby obviating a tendency for the trap to remain airlocked.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A float actuated valve comprising in combination a hollow body part having an inlet and an outlet at its upper and lower ends respectively, a member secured within said body part at the upper end of said outlet and having a convex upper surface and a passage which extends through said member from the center of said convex surface to said outlet, a rocker mounted in the interior of said body part and extending over said convex surface at a position adjacent thereto, a closure member carried by said rocker and movable thereby to and from a position in which said closure member seats Within the end of said passage at the center of said convex surface, a float situated within said body part and rigidly secured to said rocker for effecting actuation thereof, and means supporting said rocker and including relatively movable interengaging parts for causing said rocker to roll on said convex surface when actuated by said float.

2.. A float actuated valve according. to". claim .1, in which said closure member has the form of a ball rotat-.:

ably mounted within a bore in said rocker and extending in part from the undersideof said rocker.

3. A float actuated valve accordingto claim Landincluding a thermally deformable anemberin theform of a bi-metallic strip havingtransverse corrugations of loop-like form, said strip being connected at opposite ends respectively to said body part and said rocker andtending at normal atmospheric temperatures to urge saidrocker .into. a position in which said closure member is separated from the end of said passage at the center of said convex surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

